For this Top 5 I’m going to flip the script and give my Top 5 games from this generation that everyone loves, but didn’t really click with me. These are games that garnered either critical or commercial success (or both) but for whatever reason, I just couldn’t get into. Obviously these will be games I’ve actually played as there’s quite a few big games this gen I just flat out have never played.
5. Destiny / Destiny 2
I lost count of how many times I tried to give Destiny 2 (and it’s predecessor) a shot. I played the beta on PS4. I played the beta on Xbox, I played it free on PS4 and then played it again when it went free on PC. No matter how many times I tried I just couldn’t get into this game.
I don’t know if it’s the slightly floaty movement that Bungie have always had since Halo, I don’t know if the recoil is maybe just a bit beyond my tolerance or if it’s the shared world/MMO thing it has going on. Maybe it’s a combination of them all. Something about Destiny just never clicked with me, which as a Halo fan I always found strange.
4. PUBG
Like a lot of console players, I had to know what the fuss was about and honestly the Battle Royale premise always sounded great to me. So like a lot of people I bought this day one sight unseen just assuming I’d just love it like everyone else seemed to. For $30AU…why not?
Good lord was I mistaken. I get that it was in preview for a long time, but even the finished product is still a really janky experience that clearly was never designed with consoles in mind. To this day I’m staggered how popular this game became even on console which is clearly the inferior way to play it. I disliked this experience so much it turned me into a full blown Fortnite fan.
I still yearn for an experience though that blends PUBG’s aesthetic and grounding in reality with Fortnite’s ultra smooth gameplay.
3. Grand Theft Auto V
I get that this is technically a Generation 7 game, but it came out 2 months before the release of the Xbox One and PS4 and almost a year after the WiiU, which was the start of Generation 8. It also got a re-release for Gen 8 consoles so I’m counting it.
I learned a valuable lesson after buying Grand Theft Auto IV. Rockstar really aren’t all that interested in how their games feel to play. Despite an unlimited development budget, unlimited access to resources and complete and utter autonomy with their development schedule it feels almost criminal that their games play the way they do.
I get that Rockstar’s open world games look fantastic, they’re masters of creating living breathing worlds full of life that make you feel like you’re in a place that exists somewhere out there.
But what’s the point of it all when it feels absolutely terrible to play? Videogames are first and foremost an interactive medium. If you fall down on the core aspect of what makes a game…a game, then everything that comes after just seems inconsequential.
2. Monster Hunter World
By all rights, this is a game I should like. I love the premise. It looks great and it sounds like something that should be instantly enjoyable.
But as someone who values gameplay above all else in a game, I just couldn’t enjoy Monster Hunter World because it’s simply too clunky to enjoy on any level. It didn’t help that I actually found it surprisingly boring for a game about hunting giant monsters.
I had tried in on Wii back in the day and didn’t like it back then, but figured maybe World would improve the clunky combat and kind of assumed as much when I saw how popular the game was.
Nope….still clunky.
1. Overwatch
Much like Destiny and Destiny 2 I tried. I really really tried to like Overwatch. I played it when it went free for a weekend on PS4. I played it again when it went free for a weekend on Xbox One. I played it a third time when it went free for a weekend on PC.
I just wasn’t having any fun.
I think it was the combination of a lack of Deathmatch at launch (which I’m aware has now been there since 2017) and the fact that there wasn’t a character that suited how I play shooters. I’m not a massive fan of objective based multiplayer modes so I guess no matter how many chances I gave it I was probably never going enjoy it.
Which is a shame because the game actually feels really good to play and I think by the time Deathmatch came, I was just done trying to force myself to enjoy it.
No interest in any of those games except for GTA 5 which should be considered a last gen game as it was ported over to this gen a year after it’s 360/PS3 release. MHW is said to be an excellent game but hunting monsters repeatedly isn’t for me.
I did mention that GTA was technically a last gen game and also why I chose to include it in this list.
Fair enough. I simply go based on when the game was originally released unless it’s a full blown remake (ala Resident Evil 2) so for me, I consider GTA 5 to be a last gen game, same as TLOU. But to each their own. 🙂